A year later, I had completely reinvented myself. Peter and I were dating and closer than ever. He was the perfect boyfriend. He even insisted on coming to speech therapy with me once to help support me. And he doted on Adela, sneaking her treats and such behind my adopted parents' back. And Susan was my best friend. She confided in me that she had been friends with some of the girls who bullied me, but had segregated herself after seeing them bully other girls before me, saying she'd rather be bullied than bully. And that a lot of the time, she did enjoy being alone. But she didn't mind me since most of the time I just sat with her silently, not wanting to have to stutter out a conversation. Susan did though take me under her wing and helped me figure out the right type of clothes to fit in with the girls and how to use makeup. And when I met their little sister, Lucy, she was also perfect. She'd chat so much and not care if I responded or not. Edmund was the biggest question. He didn't seem to particularly like or dislike me.

My stutter was beginning to disappear. My therapist seemed to be right about it being a confidence issue. And having good friends and a boyfriend – a fairly popular one at that! – definitely helped me become confident.

"Hey, Dollie?" Peter asked me one day near the end of summer. It turned out we lived somewhat near each other."I want you to meet my parents. Ed kind of accidently-on-purpose let slip to my parents that I had a girlfriend and now they insist on meeting you. They were hoping for dinner this Saturday."

"S-Sounds good," I said with a smile.

"Really? I thought you'd be, well, you know"

"What?"

"More, um, nervous."

"I'm not always s-scared of everything," I retorted.

"I know, I know," he said sheepishly. "So, how about it? Dinner at my house?"

When I showed up, Lucy practically attacked me. "I'm so glad you're here! It's going to be great!"

I smiled nervously and just nodded.

His mother greeted me next. "Hello, dear. Peter says your name is Dollie? Is it short for something?"

"S-Short fo-for – Dol-Dl." I was so nervous that I couldn't stop stammering.

"Oh, there's no need to be nervous," she said with a thin smile. I panicked as I realized that Peter must not have told his mother about my stutter.

"Mum!" Peter protested, running down the stairs. "You didn't tell me she was here already!" He smiled at me ruefully. I blushed in voluntarily and looked away. He offered his arm to me in a manner more reminiscent of Narnia than it was British.

I heard loud footsteps clomping down the stairs and saw Edmund clumsily coming down. "Hey, Dollie."

"H-hello, Ed," I responded.

"Dollie!" Susan said, running down the stairs, her graceful, light steps contrasting Edmunds heavier ones. "I'm so glad you came. I do hope you like the food we made for you. We tried out some Spanish recipes a neighbor had, but I'm sure it won't be nearly as good as the food you have at home."

Thankfully I wasn't talkative, so they wouldn't find it strange that I wouldn't be able to talk about the food.

A man walked in the room. I knew instantly that he must be Mr. Pevensie. He looked just like on older version of Peter. He held a hand out for me to shake and said, "Hello there."

I shook his hand, hoping he wouldn't be upset that I didn't verbally respond. I did not want to repeat the awkward moment I had with Mrs. Pevensie.

Thankfully, the rest of the meal went more or less without a hitch. Susan, Lucy, and Peter had long gotten used to finishing my sentences for me so I wouldn't have to struggle through them in front of others and embarrass myself. Edmund mostly sat silently as he always did.

At the end of dinner, after we had excused ourselves, Peter said, "Dollie, want to go for a walk with me?"

"Me too!" Lucy piped up.

"And me as well," Susan said with an apologetic smile.

"Me too," Edmund said, surprising me. He didn't ever seem to particularly enjoy being sociable.

"Well, go on then," Mrs. Pevensie said. Peter offered his arm again and the group of us headed outside.

"You didn't all need to come with me," Peter said, sounding annoyed.

"We wanted to come as support," Susan said. I didn't understand what she could be meaning by this.

"Besides, you'll need back-up when she doesn't believe you," Edmund muttered.

"W-What?" I asked.

Peter glared at his siblings, "I told you, I'll"

"Have it sorted, no problem," Edmund mocked. All three of them crossed their arms and seemed to be refusing to leave.

"Fine, whatever. Dollie, I want to tell you something… pretty incredulous. You probably won't believe it. It's really hard to believe. I didn't even believe it when Lucy first told me of it."

"What i-is it?"

"We've been to another world," he said, tensing up as though he thought I was going to be angry. My eyes widened. I began silently praying that there were worlds other than this one and where I was from.

"I know it sounds strange, but it was no dream. We all were there," Susan assured, mistakenly thinking that it was the idea of another world that bothered me.

"And it's a wonderful world!" Lucy exclaimed. I took a breath. If it was a wonderful world then it couldn't be Narnia. Even those who did not have a horrible history like mine would never call Narnia wonderful. Not with the constant threat of unnatural creatures attacking, scheming lords, a history of betrayals and murders, uprisings, and everything being altogether quite frightening.

"T-Tell me about it," I said. Peter and his siblings exchanged glances. They clearly weren't expecting me to accept the idea of another world so easily.

"Well… we got into it through a wardrobe of all things. And it's called Narnia," Peter began. My eyes grew wide and I began shaking. The four of them looked startled by my actions and reached out to comfort me. But when Peter reached towards me, all I could see was my uncle.

"N-nno! D-don't t-t-touch me!" I screamed. Peter drew back, startled. I backed away as well, then turn and began running. I had to get away. Narnia could not be coming back to haunt me! Not now of all times! I finally had a life, finally some happiness. I was never going to go back to Narnia. I ran as fast as I could to get as much distance between them and myself as I could. I could hear them running after me, shouting my name, but all I did was run away faster and faster and faster. I hide myself in a bush when they lost sight of me and when they turned the corner they kept running, not realizing I had hidden. I buried my face in my knees and began crying. Narnia, the place I thought was gone in all but my nightmares was catching up with me. The lion had warned me I'd eventually be forced to return. But my life had been going so perfect until this moment.